Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1887-07-01

world is clever enough to us. PERKINS, it
mas treated us great deal better than We
deserved to be treated; but if on the diving
pillow there shall break the light of that
better world. we shall have no more regret
about leaving small, dark, damp house
lor one large, beautiful and capacious.
That dying minister in Philadelphia, some
years ago, beautifully depicted it when, in
me last moment, he threw up his hands
and cried out:
II move into the light"
Pass ON now and 1 will show you one
more picture, and that is Stephen asleep.
With pathos and simplicity peculiar 10
the Scriptures, the text says of Stephen:
He fell asleep" ooh, you say, "what
place that was to sleep! A hard rock under
him, stones falling down upon him, the
blood streaming, the mob bowling. What
place it was to sleep!" And yet my text
takes That symbol of slumber to describe
ms departure, SO sweet was it, SO contented
was 1t, SO peaceful was it. Stephen had
lived very laborious life. His chief
work had been to care for the poor. How
many ioaves OF bread he distributed, how
many bare feet he had sandaled, how many
cots OF sickness and distress he blessed
with ministries of kindness and love, do
not know; but from the way he lived, and
the way he preached, and the way he died,
know he was a laborious Christian. But
that is all over now. He has pressed the
cup to the last fainting lip.
lie has taken the last insult from his
enemies. The last stone to whose crush
ing weight he is susceptible has been hurled.
Stephen is dead! The disciples come.
h hhey t axe him i'm up: They wash away the
out the bruised limbs. They brush back
the tangled hair from the brow, and then
they pass around to look upon the calm
| countenance of him who had lived for the
poor and died for the truth. Stephen
asleep! have seen the sea driven with
the hurricane until tangled foam caught in
the rigging, and wave rising above wave
see med as if about to storm the heavens,
and then 1 have seen the tempest drop,
and the waves crouch, and everything be-
come smooth and Furnished as though q
camping place for the glories of Heaven.
tossed and driven, coming down at last to
/ m infinite calm, in which there was the
hush of Heavens lullaby. Stephen
asleep! saw such an one. He fought all
his days against poverty and against abuse.
They traduced his name. They ratified at
the door knob while he was dying, with
! duns for debts, he could not pay; vet the
pence of God brooded over his pillow, and
while the world faded, Heaven dawned,
and while the deepening twilight of
earths night was only the opening twilight
of Heavens morn. Not y sigh. Not a
tear. Not struggle. Hush! Stephen
asleep!
have not the faculty to tell the weather.
can never tell by the setting sun whether
there will be drought or not. I cannot
tell by the blowing Of the wind whether it
will be fair weather or foul on the morrow.
But can prophesv, and l will prophesy
what weather it will be when you, the
Christian, come to die. You may have it
very rough now. 1t may be this week one
annoyance, the next another annoyance.
1t mag be this year one bereavement, the
next another bereavement. Before this
bread, or ask for a scuttle of coal, or q
pair of shoes; but spread your death couch
amid the leaves of the forest or make
iti out Of the straw of q pauper's hut,
the wolf in the jungle bowling close by,
or memorable creditors jerking the pillow
from under your dying head, Christ will
come in and darkness will go out. And
though there may be no hand to close
your eyes and no breast on which to rest
your dying head and no candle to lift the
night, the odors of Gods hanging garden
| Will IeHShlo your SOUL duu III your DeuSlue
will halt the chariots of the king. No
more rents 10 pay, no more agony because
flour has gone up, no more struggle with
"the world, the flesh, and the devil" but
peace-long, deep, everlasting peace.
Stephen asleep!
| Asleep i'll Jesus, blessed sleep,
I From which none ever wake To weep;
| calm and undisturbed reposc,
! Uniajur d by the last Ct foes.
asleep in Jesus f.I from thee
! Thy kindred and their graves may be;
| But there is still Il blessed sleep,
| From which none ever wake to weep"
You have seen enough for one morning.
No one can successfully examine more than
/ five pictures in Cay, Therefore We stop.
| having seen this cluster of divine Raphaels
Stephen gazing into heavon;, Stephen
looking at Christ; Stephen stoned; Stephen
in his dying prayer; Stephen asleep.